In July 2018 I spent 10 days driving around Iceland's ring road. This is a record of what I found out on the open road, what I saw and what I learned. No erupting volcanoes on my particular trip sadly, but plenty to see and experience nevertheless.
Hiring a small camper van was ideal for me as it solved both transport and accommodation problems. There are plenty of rental companies out there. Some are like the budget airlines - they charge additional fees over and above the basic rental fee for towels and linen etc... I managed to find one where everything was included and at a good price; as my experience was a positive one I will mention that I hired mine through https://guidetoiceland.is/ which is also a great source of information - in fact, it has an information desk in the Reykjavík tourist information office. I took a printed road map with me which was really useful and meant I avoided burning my mobile data allowance whenever I just wanted to check my next move.
Driving was a very different experience to driving in the UK. You cannot drive off-road anywhere - there was a news article today in fact about a couple of 4x4 drivers who left a trail of devastation in their wake while driving over the Icelandic countryside. You cannot camp on the street; there are lots of speed cameras near Reykjavík (they look like small grey mobile phone masts) - hardly any in the countryside. No drink driving allowed. Seat belts and lights must always be on. I found drivers to be on the impatient side both in the city and countryside - tailgating if you are sticking to the speed limit.
The ring road - Route 1 - is a 2 lane highway which for the most part has a central dividing line and is in good condition. The width and the camber are very variable, however. You will notice this especially when a large truck travelling in the opposite direction passses you.
You cannot avoid stretches of gravel road even on Route 1. You get a signpost warning you of this. Roadworks can take place in the remotest of places - on one stretch I was in a little convoy being led by a road worker in a work vehicle past the road surfacing machines.
Some gravel roads off Route 1 are short and a minor inconvenience. Occasionally I had to slow down or stop due to sheep in the road.
Some gravel roads go on for miles and the road is hardly a road - I went very slow through these places and I think this helped avoid damaging the paintwork/getting a puncture. I met a couple of Czech guys who weren't so lucky - they had a puncture and this was in a 4x4 though luckily not a rental.
In the east there are a lots of single lane bridges - whoever is nearest goes first. There are a few tunnels through mountains (one in the west has a toll payable by card) - they monitor your speed in there too.
I would like to say I stuck to the speed limit and did not stop - I did speed and did stop in the road a couple of times but only when I had to.
If you plan on taking the outlying F roads you must have a 4x4.
http://www.road.is/ is a useful site for driving safely in Iceland.
Diesel will be slightly cheaper than unleaded. There are plenty of service stations - even in the most unlikely of places. Some have small supermarkets and restaurants and some are just fuel pumps. I always tried to keep half a tank full which would always get me to the next service station regardless of where I was. Pumps are self-service and once you have used one are very easy to use. One thing I didn't learn till I got to my first service station is that you need to specify how much fuel you want to put in before you fill up.
Everywhere has chip and pin machines so you do not really need to take large amounts of cash with you. Campsite prices ranged from ISK1400 to ISK2400. The latter included wifi and showers etc... Some will charge extra for showers which to me is a bit of a rip-off as you are paying for the services not just a place to park. I did read about coin operated showers before I left - I didn't see any of these. The showers were open to anyone so in theory you could opt out of the shower charge and use them anyway. Generally, campsites were a really good experience though the site in Vik was pretty bad - sinks full of dirty water and just an air of uncleanliness about the place. This was noted by someone else I spoke to.
I took a credit card with no foreign currency transaction fees with me and used this for everything. I had a little cash too which also came in handy for small purchases.
Unfortunately for me, the 10 days I was in Iceland coincided with the wettest summer the country had seen for many years. The weather is known to be variable - getting wet is unavoidable. With hindsight I would have taken waterproof over-trousers and let these get wet while keeping my clothes dry.
Aside from the rain I found the wind to be much stronger than I had anticipated. I did have a couple of fantastic days weather-wise - one in Húsavík where I met a French guide on the whale watching trip (I took the 8 o'clock trip - there were only 3 people on the boat which made photography easy; a later boat we saw was crammed with people). The guide had a really deep suntan - she said she got it in Iceland. The other good day weather-wise was in the east which seems to get the best of the weather. For me, the rain interfered with my photography so if that's your thing I would plan your shoots with this in mind.
I wasn't really cold at any point other than in the wind and rain on the coast. I would say it was cool rather than cold and the layers rule worked fine.
Despite having a camper stove and utensils I did no cooking. I ate when I could and bought fruit, juice and bread and cheese to make sandwiches. I also bought some UHT milk for cereal in the mornings. I don't eat meat but did not find this problematic.
My UK car cigarette USB charger worked fine in the camper van I hired so I could easily charge my phone/iPad as I drove. Campsites will allow you to plug your other equipment into any available sockets using a standard power adaptor. Mobile phone coverage was excellent, even in places where you wouldn't expect it. I was not checking every 5 minutes but whenever I needed a signal there was one.
This was easily the hardest part of my preparations. The first question is: "clockwise or counter-clockwise?". I would say that nearly all the travellers I checked out before I left went counter-clockwise ie start in Keflavik and head towards Vik via the Golden Circle (Gulfoss and Strokur).
In the end I decided to go clockwise. I don't think it actually matters overly; I would say that the thing against taking a clockwise route is that it is a very long drive from the airport to Akureyri (albeit split by a night in Hvammstangi) which is where you will find the whale watching and Lake Mývatn. That is not to say there isn't plenty to see along the way; just the key activities (for me anyway) began in Húsavík.
I was mainly interested in photographing Iceland so the key places on the ring road for me were:
This is by no means a complete list of everything you might want to see in Iceland but given my focus and trip duration this looked feasible.
I pretty much drove non-stop from Keflavik to Húsavík staying overnight in Hvammstangi. On reflection, too much driving. It did help me to get used to driving on the ring road, though, and the scenery along the way was stunning.
I camped in Húsavík itself as I wanted to go whale watching. I got up early and bought a ticket with North Sailing. They had a 98% success rate so I chose them - there are other companies and the Czech guys I met went from Dalvik and they showed me photos of the whales they saw so the Húsavík/North Sailing combo is just one of many options.
I got on the 8.00am boat and the only other people there were an American couple.
I saw lots of whales. Some were gone by the time the boat arrived; some were really close to the boat. You could also see puffins flying back to their nests, beaks full of food and terns screaming overhead. Staying in the Húsavík campsite meant I could get up early and catch the first boat out which proved to be a good move as later boats were full.
http://www.visitHúsavík.com/ has lots of useful information on whale watching and the area in general.
Between Akureyri and Lake Mývatn is Goðafoss Waterfall (directly off Route 1) which was the first of many amazing waterfalls I was lucky enough to see on my trip.
This is a massive crater that you can climb and walk around. You can get there by taking R848 off Route 1 just east of Lake Mývatn.
As you head further east of Lake Mývatn you will pass Hverir. This is a geothermal area with boiling mud pools, steaming chimneys and smelly pools of boiling water. There is a peak there called Námafjall which you can climb and get a fantastic view of the whole area.
Almost next door to Hverir is the Krafla Power Station which you can visit for free and see the small exhibition. There are some really weird and wonderful buildings and structures here. If you continue past the plant itself you get to the Víti crater which you can climb and walk the whole way around. In the middle is an emerald green lake which is stunning set against the dark rock.
Heading east along Route 1 from Krafla will take you towards Dettifoss. There are 2 roads that run either side of the river: R862 and R864. The tourist guide in Lake Mývatn advised taking R862 which is to the west of the waterfall as he said the views were better and I think he was right. If you want to see the spot where the opening scene from Prometheus was shot, however, you will need to be on the east side so take R864.
Other attractions in the area include the Mývatn Nature Baths which I didn't try myself but are supposed to be a better alternative to the Blue Lagoon.
After checking out Dettifoss I continued east along the ring road towards my next stopover: Egilsstaðir. The weather cleared (it had been raining for 2 days solid) and the route was a real pleasure to drive. The wide green valleys and snow covered peaks were incredible. If I was to plan my trip again I would definitely include a night or two in one of the small towns in the East Fjords.
On arriving in Egilsstaðir, I decided to visit Seyðisfjörður, a small town at the end of a fjord. This was a slightly surreal experience - the road over the mountain is really steep and windy. It reminded me of the transfers to Ski resorts in the Alps. It was battering with rain and blowing a gale - maybe the most challenging driving experience of the whole trip. Seyðisfjörður is very small and there was not much to see there other than a huge cruise liner moored in the harbour.
My next port of call was Höfn. This is where I planned to take a zodiac boat trip in the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. The lagoon is next to the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, an outlet glacier of the larger glacier of Vatnajökull. I did try and book this online the night before but the payment page failed so I was a bit unsure I would get a place by just turning up at the ticket desk. I got lucky - the person before me in the queue wanted 4 places and was told they weren't available; I asked about 1 place and they said they had one on the next trip out in ten minutes. Couldn't believe my luck. You can book tickets and find out more on the http://icelagoon.is/ website.
There are a few types of tour available but I would say the zodiac one is the better option. You travel really fast to the glacier and if you are lucky pass close to seals lying on icebergs. Once at the glacier, you head back slowly passing close by to the icebergs. And this is why I think it is the better option - the other boats do not get as close.
You can also walk along the shoreline and up a small incline to take in the views. Watch out for the terns, though, who will attack you if you get too close to their nests. They are also known to crap on you too.
If you drive 5 minutes west of the main lagoon you will come across a similar, smaller lagoon. This gives you a better view of the glacier and is less busy.
West of the lagoon is Vik. If you were travelling counter-clockwise this would probably be your first campsite which is a shame as it is probably the least well maintained of all I visited. The town has plenty of shops and restaurants but I would recommend having a drive around as there is a great restaurant / bar off Route 1 as you leave the town heading towards Reykjavík. It is really relaxed and friendly and had the world cup on tv when I was there. If you stayed around the main shopping area you would never know it was there - it is on what looks like a small industrial estate not far from the campsite. It is called Smiðjan Brugghús.
Reynisfjara Beach is a jet black stretch of coastline within walking distance of the main shopping area car park. You can walk along a rocky pier where you get a great view of the rock columns called Reynisdrangar. There is also the option of taking a horse ride along the beach.
Continuing west along the ring road from Vik will take you toward a collection of spectacular waterfalls. The first is Skógafoss which is a right turn off the ring road and then a left turn (both signposted). There is a viewing platform above the waterfall which is worth a climb.
The next stop was Seljalandsfoss. This was the only place where I was charged for parking - ISK700, payable via a card from an automated machine. You get there by taking the R249 from the ring road.
I left Seljalandsfoss ahead of schedule which meant I could take in Geysir and Gullfoss, two thirds of the Golden Triangle (the other being Thingvellir National Park). I had decided to stay in the Skjol campsite as it is only a couple of miles away from both Geysir and Gullfoss. Travelling clockwise on the ring road, you would take R30 (signposted Flúðir) and then it is 45 minutes from this junction. There is a gravel road full of sheep along the way but nothing too challenging. The campsite was great as it had modern, clean facilities, a pizza restaurant and a bar, all onsite. Not cheap but not the most expensive either.
I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed by Strokur which is the geyser that actually 'erupts'. Maybe as I had seen it before - not sure. If you haven't seen it then it is worth a visit.
Gullfoss is much more impressive. It has an interesting history which you can read about on the information boards near the waterfall.
I left Gullfoss and headed towards the Reykjavík campsite. I wanted to photograph the city so this seemed like an ideal solution given that you could walk from the campsite to the city centre in around 30 minutes. The campsite was the best facilitated of all the campsites I stayed in - showers/wifi/cooking/24 hour information desk. It was very busy and I got the impression it always was. It was ISK2400 a night which was the most expensive site I stayed in but for the location and facilities I thought it worth it.
Reykjavík is very much geared up for the tourist industry. It is quite small for a capital city and you can easily find your way around. The tourist information office is well staffed and has a huge map of the country inside that you can walk around and get a feel for the country's geology.
There were a few spots I especially wanted to photograph. There first was the Harpa Concert Hall. Another was Hallgrímskirkja church. You can pay to get to the viewing deck.
I stayed in Reykjavík a second night as I wanted to drive around the Reykjanes peninsula. The Official travel guide to Reykjanes Iceland has lots of useful information about what to see and do on the peninsula.
As well as the Blue Lagoon which is near Grindavik on the south of the peninsula there are a lot of geothermal places of interest as the Bridge Between the Continents.
I spent the last night in the campsite that was run by the company I hired the camper van from which was only 5 minutes from the airport. I had to have the van back by 10.00am so he was good enough to let me stay on the campsite for free.
Next day I flew back to the UK.
